The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Silene regia and will be referred to hereafter by its cultivar name, ‘Prairie Fire’. ‘Prairie Fire’ represents a new Royal catchfly, an herbaceous perennial grown for landscape use.
The inventor discovered the new cultivar, ‘Prairie Fire’, in a cultivated field in Westfield, Wis. in the summer of 2000. ‘Prairie Fire’ was discovered as a naturally occurring mutant seedling in a cultivated production field that the inventor had sowed for seed production. The field was sown with seeds derived from unnamed plants of Silene regia. 
The combined characteristics of ‘Prairie Fire’: its large, deep red flowers, its thick stems, and wide dark green leaves make this new cultivar unique and unlike any other known cultivars of Silene regia known to the inventor. The combined characteristics exhibited by ‘Prairie Fire’ indicate that the new cultivar is most likely a tetraploid, however, this theory has not been scientifically tested.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar was first accomplished by in vitro propagation in Waseca, Minn. in spring of 2001 under the direction of the inventor. The characteristics of the new cultivar have been determined to be stable and are reproduced true to type in successive generations.